Montgomery County Council Vice President and Transportation, Infrastructure, Energy, and Environment Committee Chair, Roger Berliner, sent a letter to County Executive Leggett arguing in favor of an expansion of bikesharing to Bethesda. (via WABA)

In the letter he points out that citizen boards, the Bethesda business community and other stakeholders all agree that it would be a tremendous benefit. He notes that it could help with BRAC and to make the White Flint development plans better. He says that DOT staff recently travelled to Annapolis to discuss funding with state officials and that Senator Brian Frosh has expressed support in securing state bond funding.

He's scheduled a discussion on bikesharing for later this fall. Does anyone know when?

Equal Rights language and biking on the GW Parkway. Speaking of which, Arlington County, Alexandria and the NPS are looking for volunteers to count cyclists and pedestrians on the MVT. This might help make the case for improved crossings.

Bicycle storage is becoming a bigger issue for apartment seekers NYC. Ironically that might change once they get bike sharing. People always ask "why join CaBi, just buy your own bike." But in NYC, where space is at such a premium that some people rent dogs, the answer to that question will be more obvious. Also, NYC has bike ambassadors.

The Potomac River Generating Station, which the MVT runs right along - and gets pushed out over the Potomac by, will be retired by Oct 1, 2012. It appears a "a group funded by the natural gas industry has come forward with a proposal to divert the $32 million from cleaning up the existing plant to shutting it down, and preparing the site for potential development."

This should create an opportunity to create a better MVT in this area, as well as other trails through the site, though there is no word on what is planned for the site or the facility beyond closure. Previously I wrote

A while ago I wrote about what would happen to the Potomac River Generating Station site, and the Mount Vernon Trail that runs through it, if it closed. Well, the American Clean Skies Foundation put together a proposal. It's obviously not official, but their plan involves an improved MVT (moved out of the cage along the river and onto a greenway along Slater's Lane), a second trail on Dangerfield Island, connections along the extended street grid, and a bike station near a new water taxi pier.

From the press release:

“Both the Alexandria City Council and community have worked extremely hard toward this goal, and we are very proud of the final result. This news strengthens Alexandria’s future and opens the door to an enhanced quality of life for our residents.”

Under the terms of the agreement, GenOn has agreed to retire the generating station by October 1, 2012, or, if the plant is needed beyond that date for reliability purposes, as soon as it is no longer needed. GenOn will coordinate with PJM Interconnection L.L.C., Pepco, and government regulators for the necessary notifications and approvals to close the plant.

WABA has sent a response to NPS about their Record of Determination on the closure of the GW and Clara Barton Parkways. They criticize it for flaws in logic and process.

The logic of this ROD is deeply flawed and leads to a conclusion that unfairly prevents cyclists from accessing a portion of the National Park that is made accessible to other transportation “visitors.” Themaking of this discriminatory determination, without the input of the public or the burdened community, is wholly inappropriate and furthers concerns about the Park Service’s relationship with the region’s cycling community

The ROD states that bicycling on the parkway roadways is “unsafe and not feasible.” No evidence is provided to support these conclusions. Bicycles operateregularly and safely, on curving roadways with travel lanes of 9 ft. and 11 ft.,throughout the region safely on a daily basis, and NPS provides no evidence of the inability of bicyclists and motorists to share the public space on these Parkways a sthey do throughout the region. And, although parallel drain grates can be unsafe for bicyclists, the banning of cyclists from roadways to avoid minor repairs to drainage coverings is a disproportionate response.

Further, the conclusion that bicyclists have an available and safe alternative wholly ignores the difference in character, quality, and treatment of these “alternatives.” Separate facilities do exist, but they are far from equal. Apart from issues of crowding and speed limits, there is no alternative to the trail north of Theodore Roosevelt Island, and the C&O Canal Towpath that NPS proposes as an alternative to the paved Clara Barton Parkway is a dirt and gravel path—a surface that is impossible or unsafe for many bicycles. An equivalent would be if motorists were directed to an alternative road that was navigable only by a 4-wheel drive vehiclewith high clearance. And even if these trails were deemed reasonable alternatives to the Parkways during some periods, they clearly are not during winter periods following snowfall—when NPS makes no effort to keep them passable for bicyclists. NPS cannot rely on the presence of these trails as an available alternative when they refuse to maintain them as such.

Construction on the Washington Gateway building, which will be built along the MBT just north of the NY Ave Metro station and the Courtyard Marriott will break ground by the end of the year. It's hard to tell if it will open up to the MBT with it's own "front door" or present a blank wall like the Courtyard, but hopefully it will be the former. Here's hoping for no trail closures or parked fork lifts.

I don't know if this fills a niche, but it looks like fun. David Alpert wonders if it would cause more people to bike (probably not) or create more conflict (hard to say). There's a woman in my neighborhood who rides an adult trike. I feel like she gets more respect, not less. But I'd hate to see what would happen if she took it on MacArthur Blvd.

Green Lantern takes on the issue of a bicycle's carbon footprint. "Shreya Dave, a graduate student at MIT, recently estimated that manufacturing an average bicycle results in the emission of approximately 530 pounds of greenhouse gases....Given a typical U.S. diet, you would have to ride your bike instead of driving for around 400 miles to cover the bike’s initial carbon footprint." Done.

Despite the Hurricane I managed to go on bike rides both days the weekend. On Saturday at 11am I had the CCT all to myself. But yesterday the trails were crowded.

On Wednesday there's a launch party for a new book entitled Where to Bike Washington, DC at the Wilderness Society.

The MLK memorial really needs bikeparking. Ran into a woman at the CaBi station yesterday. She hadn't been on a bicycle in 20 years but was going to ride down to the Memorial. I told her there were no stations nearby and she'll probably have to pay overage fees, but she didn't mind. Also, on both Saturday and Sunday I saw Park Police writing parking tickets for the half dozen cars illegally parking on Independence in front of the memorial.

Tim Kelley of BikeArlington is going to be meeting with NPS on bike issues and is looking for suggested topics. Specifically Arlington topics, though people are suggesting more.

Driver has a story about careless cyclists. But part of the problem is the confusing trail/road intersection.

Richard Layman has an assortment of bicycle stories from around the world.

Join us as at The Bicycle Escape on Sunday October 16th at 6:30 you have an opportunity to meet Jacquie Phelan. She will be giving a mountain bike history presentation and sharing insider information on the formation of the machine and the sport. As always the event will be catered with plenty of food and drink.